#35

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Ellin’s hand stirring the stew gradually slowed.

The bubbling white cream stew reminded her of the Duke’s words that kept echoing in her ears.

“I couldn’t bear it. When I thought you were with that bastard, my mind went blank and I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t think anything.”

“If I were in your situation, I wouldn’t have been able to tell either.”

“I came to like you for being that kind of person, and I’m truly sorry for misunderstanding.”

His gaunt face and eyes filled with sadness floated before her.

She knew his words were sincere.

She could guess how much painful time the Duke had also spent just by looking at his current appearance.

But…

She feared her heart growing weak again.

She worried the same things would repeat.

She didn’t think she could endure it anymore.

Ouch!

She felt a burning sensation on the inside of her wrist, like a knife cut.

Dropping the ladle, she looked at the heated area and saw her skin had reddened, probably burned from the pot.

The hot sensation still hadn’t subsided, suggesting she had suffered a burn.

“Oh my, what should we do!”

Bianca, who had been in the living room, rushed over when she realized Ellin had burned herself on the pot.

She quickly wrapped Ellin’s arm with a clean towel soaked in cold water.

“What if your beautiful skin scars? You should have been more careful.”

While Bianca examined the inside of Ellin’s arm with a worried face, Ellin noticed something else.

It was a card Bianca had dropped on the floor while rushing over.

“Bianca. Is that…?”

“It’s an invitation I just received. The pastor’s wife wants to invite you and me to her home.”

“Us?”

When Ellin looked puzzled, Bianca picked up the fallen invitation and handed it to her.

The invitation from the pastor’s residence was filled with expressions of friendliness and gratitude toward Bianca.

“The pastor’s residence does give me a lot of work thankfully, but I never imagined they would invite me for a meal.”

Bianca also looked confused by the sudden invitation.

Ellin recalled the cold demeanor of the woman she had briefly encountered during her previous visit to the pastor’s residence and found this puzzling.

“Still, since they’ve invited us, we should gratefully accept, right?”

Bianca muttered to herself, already worrying about what to wear.

Ellin couldn’t understand why the woman had invited her as well.

* * *

The next day, Dominic left the hotel before dawn and went to Ellin’s house.

He knew Ellin wouldn’t easily open her heart even if he visited every day like this.

But this was all he could do right now.

Doing his best. Showing his sincerity. He could only believe that someday, Ellin might find it in her heart to forgive him.

He had no choice but to believe that.

The cold morning air seemed to seep into his chest, and Dominic tightened his coat.

The window of the room where Ellin stayed was firmly closed.

Was she not awake yet?

Would she come out today?

Wanting to see her. Wanting to meet her even for a moment. He found his own behavior strange, endlessly waiting for someone in an unfamiliar place.

Strange but new.

If not for Ellin, he would have never known he could be this kind of person until his death.

A bitter smile briefly spread across his tired face and then disappeared.

Just then, the front door opened and Ellin came out.

She had a shopping basket in her hand, apparently planning to go to the market early in the morning.

Ellin was also surprised when she saw him standing across from the house.

“Your Grace?”

Her face showed she hadn’t expected him to be waiting for her in front of the house today as well.

He slowly approached Ellin.

“I won’t bother you. Will you just let me be with you?”

What a cautious and fearful look, afraid of rejection.

She realized for the first time that his cold golden eyes, which had always shone proudly befitting someone in the highest position, could also waver with such lack of confidence.

“I don’t understand why you’re going this far. You’re doing something meaningless.”

Ellin’s calm voice returned.

“You’re free to go wherever you want, Your Grace.”

Ellin turned away from him as if she no longer cared and headed to where she had planned to go.

Dominic followed her a few steps behind.

Ellin was inwardly perplexed to see that he didn’t turn away even after she said words that could hurt his pride.

While buying fish at the harbor stalls where fishermen’s boats had arrived, she became concerned and glanced back.

She thought he wouldn’t follow her to such a place where the fishy smell was overwhelming and the ground was slippery.

If he had followed, his pants might get ruined.

She turned her head back, finding herself amusing for suddenly worrying about such things.

Ellin could tell that although he didn’t approach her closely for fear she would dislike it, he continued to follow her from a distance.

She firmly resolved not to let her heart weaken if this was his strategy, but occasionally she found herself looking back without realizing it.

When the Duke, whom she thought would eventually give up and leave after following her for a while, continued to follow her, Ellin grew impatient.

She felt angry for a moment.

He had been so cold to her before she left. He had firmly closed his heart.

She couldn’t understand why he was now trying to shake her heart again.

“The rye bread just came out and is still warm. Shall I give you one of those?”

The bakery owner, who often saw Ellin coming to buy bread, greeted her warmly as usual.

“……”

She would normally have closed her eyes and smelled the fragrant bread, but today she seemed a bit strange.

Her face had looked different from usual when she entered the store earlier.

Even now, she gazed out the window as if in a daze.

“What’s wrong?”

When the shop owner asked again, Ellin finally emerged from her thoughts and answered with an awkward expression.

“Nothing. Yes. I’ll take that one.”

After Ellin bought the bread and left, the owner couple watched her with curious eyes.

“The young lady seems odd today.”

“Did something happen to Bianca?”

She bought vegetables to make soup and items Bianca had asked for from the general store.

Just as she was about to head home, a sudden shower began pouring from the clear morning sky.

Fearing the paper bag containing the bread would get wet, Ellin gathered her purchases against her chest and started running.

No matter how fast she ran, the distance to the house was considerable, and everything would likely get soaked before she arrived.

While looking around for shelter from the rain, Dominic suddenly appeared before Ellin.

“Ah……”

Before Ellin could say anything, he grabbed her arm and hurriedly ran somewhere with her.

The place where they took shelter from the rain was an empty, old, dilapidated building.

It was a gloomy place even in daylight, with the door completely torn off and weeds growing abundantly around the entrance.

The winter rain was cold, but entering the empty building felt even colder, with the damp air seeming to seep into their bones.

When Ellin put down her shopping basket and tried to wrap her arms around her shoulders, a large coat settled on her shoulders first.

The Duke’s coat still retained warmth, melting the wetness on Ellin’s shoulders like a warm blanket.

“I’m fine.”

When Ellin tried to return the coat, he secured it more firmly around her.

The hands that fastened the coat lightly gripped Ellin’s shoulders, bringing the two closer together.

In the quiet building where they stood face to face, not even their breathing could be heard.

The sound of her heartbeat seemed louder than the dripping water from her hair.

“I thought I would go crazy when I found out you had disappeared.”

Ellin looked up at Dominic as he spoke softly, like making a confession.

More pitiful than his rain-soaked disheveled hair and gaunt face was his downcast gaze.

Ellin could barely breathe, knowing that if he lowered his head just a little more, their lips would meet.

“Ellin.”

His voice, cracked as if with weariness, clung to her ear like it was soaked in rain.

“Let’s go back……”

Before he could finish those words, Ellin stepped back and retreated from him.

She needed to get away from this place quickly before her heart weakened again.

“I’m sorry. I’ll go ahead.”

Ellin picked up what she had put down and ran outside alone.

He watched her run through the rain with a dumbfounded expression.

How could he bring back her firmly closed heart?

The solution seemed as obscured as the rainy view.

* * *

On the day of the pastor’s invitation, Ellin arrived on time with Bianca.

Several carriages were visible nearby.

“Looks like there are other guests besides us. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Bianca anxiously checked her appearance again.

She had worn her prettiest clothes and carefully styled her hair for the pastor’s wife’s dinner invitation.

She seemed intimidated the moment she saw the luxury carriages.

Ellin also felt suspicious when she saw those carriages.

Could there be another intention behind inviting them?

Perhaps they wanted to humiliate Bianca along with her for her previous rudeness?

All sorts of thoughts crossed her mind.

If that was their intention, she decided she wouldn’t tolerate it like last time.

Ellin wrapped her arms around herself as her shoulders felt chilly.

‘Is it because I got caught in the rain?’

Her physical condition didn’t seem good, perhaps due to the unwelcome invitation.

“Bianca. Let’s go in.”

Suppressing her doubts, Ellin knocked on the pastor’s door with a composed appearance.

The door swung open, and the person who emerged was not a servant or maid but the lady of the house.

“Oh my. You’ve finally arrived. I’ve been waiting, wondering when you would get here.”

The two were even more bewildered by her bright welcome, like a flower in full bloom.

“M-madam. Thank you for inviting us. This isn’t much, but…”

Bianca offered the flowers she had brought.

“Oh my. How pretty. You didn’t have to bring anything. Please come in.”

The welcoming tone of her voice was much higher and softer than before.

The pastor’s wife bowed slightly to Ellin with an even broader smile than she had shown Bianca.